Breathe
by Efiwyvan
Summary: On a cold night, Raphael has an unusual encounter. Originally posted under the name AJ3.


* * *

_**Originally posted under the name AJ3 on 10/10/00**_

_**This one is quite old, as well.**_

* * *

-

Damn, it's cold out tonight... these rooftops get that way in January. I don't really care, though... it gets the blood flowing and wakes up my senses. I'd rather be up here, in the topside world, than down plying my trade in the endless maze of New York's sewer system. It's much more interesting up here - more real. Mike, Don, and Leo all had their patrols earlier - maybe I'll just stay up here for a while longer and then join them at home... there doesn't seem to be much happening this evening.

My breath clouds up when it touches the winter air... sometimes that can be mesmerizing... watching your own breath leave your body. I wonder about that... a single moment of my life, saved by that single breath. The night air can make you think strange thoughts, sometimes.

There are deep shadows below me... colder even than the rooftop on which I walk. Most men wouldn't be able to see into the darkness there... they'd pass it off as a place that they'd rather not be, where there is nothing good and nothing worth seeing... most men haven't lived in those shadows. I've been there... and I've found that I can see right through them. And right now what I see... is someone.

He doesn't seem threatening... he is walking slowly and cautiously, peering down alley after alley. He looks like he is searching for something... or being sure that something isn't searching for him. He's dressed all in black... a baseball cap covers his head and his collar is pulled up over his cheeks. I can see him, but not his face. He stops and looks up, I duck out of the way. I don't think he saw me.

It is a few seconds until I look again, when I do he is gone. I should let it be... there is no reason to seek him out. He was probably just a man walking home late from work or a bar... but, still... there was something I can't place. Was it the way he walked? Did I catch a glimpse of his face and not know it? Somewhere in the back of my mind, did I recognize him?

...Like I said about the night air...

I don't know why, but I descend. My logical mind tells me there is no reason to do this, but my logical mind has seldom stopped me before. I move quietly... Ninja count on strangers not knowing of their presence. I made a slight noise when I landed... I'll have to work on that.

My new friend is still nowhere to be seen. I didn't hear him running, so he is still nearby. He is closer now, I can feel it. But where? He must move like a cat through these shadows... I pull myself up close to a cold brick wall. I'm frightened... why the hell am I frightened? There is nothing to be afraid of. These shadows... this darkness is my refuge. Maybe it is just the thought that there is someone so near me... blending so deep into my world... better hidden than I...

A chill travels up my spine - it is a sensation of _fight or flight_... adrenaline... that's it, I can hear him now. He is breathing. He is near. My eyes dart back and forth, I'm searching for him. He isn't searching for me... he already knows where I am. At the corner of my vision I see a movement... a cloud of exhaled breath. A light mist hits my face. I spin to strike...

My hand meets with the air, I hit nothing - but something hits me. I fall to my knees, a ringing in my ears. The bastard hit me in the head... but with what? A brick... I can see it on the ground beside me.

Where is he? He's back in the shadows... he is hidden and now I am exposed to the light. The hit wasn't hard, but it took me by surprise. I'm already back on my feet, but there is something else now...

My lips are cold... my chest feels heavy. I take in a deep breath... it isn't helping. My God, I'm suffocating. I can hold my breath for minutes underwater... I should be able to handle this... but this isn't the same... I'm not suffocating, I'm drowning... I can feel the air going past my lips, I can feel it fill my lungs... but I'm getting no oxygen.

The darkness closes in on my vision... at the edges there is only night. I feel my knees hit the ground hard - I'm holding my throat, thinking that somehow it will help. My other hand is on the concrete... I collapse forward and roll to my back. So... this is what it feels like to drown... for some reason I smile.

But, what..? Is it stopping..? It is. I can feel the oxygen now... my vision is returning. I roll onto my plastron and climb to my knees, still gasping for air. What the hell just happened to me? Who was that...?

I leap to my feet, battle-ready. I can't hear him anymore... or feel him... he's gone. The man snuck off while I was down. But, why? Why at all? I wonder if he is a man I should be contending with... he could have killed me if he had wanted to... there was an opportunity... I would have been dead right now if it had been someone else.

That was no cocktail, either. I didn't smell anything... if it were a gas it was one I couldn't sense. Colorless, odorless... I raise my fingers to my lips... there is a taste of blood in my mouth. I must have hit my lip when I fell to the ground. Yes, it is swollen and tender... Whoever was here is gone now and it won't do me any good to wander in circles looking for him. I'm going to cut my patrol short, it is much too dangerous to be on the streets tonight.

I take to the sewers, wondering about the event as I go. It just made no sense... I get back to the lair and see that Mike and Leo are watching television. Don is reading a book, of course... why would I expect anything different from him? I sneak a peek at the cover - it's by some guy named Hawking.

I go into the kitchen. Master Splinter is sitting at the table drinking tea, he looks up at me as I enter. I sit down beside him and open my mouth to speak but I stop before any words come out. There is a small bamboo straw on the table beside his cup... it's the object that ninja use to blow certain potions in their enemies' faces. I look him in the eye and he smiles.

"I told you before, my son," he says. "You breathe much too hard when you are excited..."

-

* * *

_**The End**_

* * *


End file.
